Paul Joyce has spotlighted a startling statistic showing Liverpool as the joint-worst team in the Premier League for early goalscoring this season.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool have boosted their Champions League qualification hopes with gritty away victories over Sunderland and Nottingham Forest in recent weeks, and Gary Lineker is tipping the Reds to secure a return to Europe’s top club competition next year.
Their upcoming three Premier League fixtures are all against sides languishing in the bottom five, presenting a golden chance for the champions to build momentum ahead of tougher clashes in April and May.
In his piece for The Times, Paul Joyce examined the data split between Liverpool’s opening 20 matches of the campaign (ending with the 1-4 loss to PSV Eindhoven in November) and the following 20, uncovering a particularly eye-opening trend in their scoring.
The reporter noted: “Liverpool have netted just five goals before the 40th minute in league fixtures, with only one coming since their September win over Everton. At Anfield, this has failed to excite crowds eager for entertainment.
Indeed, this tally ties for the lowest in the Premier League this season alongside bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers. By comparison, Liverpool managed 24 goals in the same period across their first 27 league games last season.
Addressing these sluggish openings is overdue, particularly as Slot has frequently mentioned how the demanding schedule has impacted new signings and led to costly late concessions.”
It’s remarkable that after scoring four times before the 40th minute in their initial five Premier League outings this term, Liverpool have only done so once in the next 22 matches.
Ironically, that lone early strike was the season’s quickest: Hugo Ekitike’s goal against Brighton in December arrived after just 47 seconds.
The domestic slow starts extend beyond scoring—since the Everton match in September, Slot’s side have shipped 10 goals before the 40-minute mark in the top flight, including in all four games following the Merseyside derby.
In the end, only the final score matters, and Liverpool’s three league wins over the past month have come from stronger second-half showings. Still, the champions’ lack of early goals remains a peculiar anomaly.
Hopefully, this statistical quirk will be fixed in the campaign’s closing stages as Liverpool aim to reclaim their spot in the Champions League next season.
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